Pallet guard rail



May 26, 1970 H. c. BENNETT ETAL 3,51

PALLET GUARD RAIL Filed June 13, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 26, 1970 H. c. BENNETT ETAL 3,513,785

PALLET GUARD RAIL Filed June 13, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent O 3,513,785 PALLET GUARD RAIL Harold C. Bennett, Watertown, Mass., and Gerald F. Russes, La Canada, Calif., assignors to Lewis-Shepard Company, Watertown, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed June 13, 1968, Ser. No. 736,620 Int. Cl. B65d 19/44 U.S. Cl. 108-55 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A guard and load Stabilizing rail for a conventional material handling pallet of the type having upper and lower load bearing surfaces separated by intermediate stringers. The guard rail is supported by uprights which extend vertically from a base section, the latter being adapted for insertion between the pallet load bearing surfaces. The base section includes spaced legs which straddle the center pallet stringer, with a clamp mechanism being provided to lock the base section in place.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to material handling equipment, and more particularly to a guard rail assembly adapted to be removably mounted on conventional pallets. After a pallet has been raised to the desired elevation by the load forks of a material handling truck, the operator often finds it necessary to step from the trucks elevated carriage platform onto the pallet in order to gain better access to adjacent shelves, racks and the like. An object of the present invention is to provide the operator with a conveniently positioned guard rail which can be grasped or leaned against when reaching beyond the pallet. The guard rail is supported on a generally L-shaped frame, the base section of which is suitably dimensioned for quick and eflicient insertion between the spaced load bearing surfaces of the pallet. In a preferred embodiment of the invention to be described hereinafter in greater detail, the base section of the frame is split into two legs suitably spaced to straddle the center stringer of the pallet. A clamp mechanism is provided to lock the base section in relation to the center stringer, thus securing the hand rail against subsequent movement. The clamp mechanism is actuated by a control handle conveniently positioned within easy reach of an operator standing on the pallet.

Optional features of the present invention include means for adjusting the length of the hand rail so as to accommodate different sized pallets. The guard rail may also be provided with right angle extensions which overlie the side edges of the pallet, thus providing even greater security for an operator standing on the pallet.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent as the description proceeds with the aid of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a pallet supported on the load forks of a material handling truck, with a guard rail according to the present invention secured to the pallet;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a guard rail assembly prior to its being mounted on a pallet;

FIG. 3 is a horizontal sectional view showing the clamp mechanism in a locked position; and

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the basic components making up the clamp mechanism.

Referring initially to FIG. 1, a material handling truck of conventional design is shown having an operators platform 12 mounted for vertical movement on a mast assembly 14 extending upwardly from the truck chassis 16. A pair of load forks 18a and 18b extend forwardly from beneath the operators platform 12. In FIG. 1, the load forks are shown inserted between the upper and lower load bearing surfaces 20a and 20b of a conventional double-faced pallet generally indicated by the reference numeral 22. Load bearing surfaces 20a and 20b are separated by spaced intermediate bracing members or stringers 24a, 24b and 240.

Referring additionally to FIG. 2a, a preferred embodiment of a guard rail assembly constructed in accordance with the present invention is indicated generally by the reference numeral 26. The guard rail assembly includes a basic L-shaped frame made up of a base section 28 having a pair of vertical posts 30 extending upwardly therefrom. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the ends of a pair of U-shaped tubular guard rail sections 32a and 32b are slidably inserted into the opposite ends of relatively short horizontal pipe lengths 34 and 36, the latter being attached to and supported by the posts 30. The rail sections 32a and 32b are selectively drilled as at 38 to accept locating pins 40 inserted through holes 42 in the upper intermediate pipe length 34. With this construction, the overall length of the guard rail made up of rail sections 32a and 32b and intermediate pipe lengths 34 and 36 can be varied to accommodate pallets of different widths.

As shown in FIG. 2, the guard rail assembly may be modified by bending the legs of a U-shaped rail section 320 as at 42, thus providing a right angle section which extends along the side of the pallet.

As can be best seen by a further reference to FIG. 3, base section 28 is subdivided into two legs 44a and 44b forming a space 46 therebetween suitably dimensioned to axially and easily receive the center stringer 24b of the pallet 'when the base section is inserted between the upper and lower load bearing surfaces 20a and 20b as shown in FIG. 1. A clamp mechanism 48 is employed to lock the guard rail assembly in place on the pallet. Referring additionally to FIG. 4, it will be seen that the clamp mechanism includes a serrated pressure pad 50 pivotally mounted on one end of a bell crank 52 which is itself pivotally mounted on a bracket 54 mounted on the inside of leg 44b. The other end of hell crank 52 is connected as at 56 to one end of a rod 58 extending horizontally and rearwardly through an aperture in the rear plate 60 of base section 28. The other end of rod 58 is connected to one leg of a vertically arranged bell crank 62, the other leg of crank 62 being connected to a rod 64 which extends vertically to an overcenter toggle lock 66 having an operating handle 68 located at a readily accessible height between posts 30.

When the handle 68 is in the down position as indicated by solid lines in FIG. 2, pressure pad 50 is withdrawn into an aperture 70 in the inside face 72 of leg 44b. When thus positioned, the serrated face of pressure pad 50 is approximately flush with inside face 72, thus providing no interference when the center pallet stringer 24b is inserted into the space 46 between the legs 44a and 44b of the base section 28. By pulling handle 68 up to the locked positioned indicated in dotted line at 68a in FIG. 2, pressure pad 50 is moved out through aperture 70 into contact with the side of stringer 28b, the result being that the stringer is securely clamped between the serrated face of pressure pad 50 and the opposite inside face 74 of leg 44a. Once this has been accomplished, the guard rail assembly 26 is securely fastened to the pallet 22.

Having thus described a preferred embodiment of the invention, the advantages offered by its use will now be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. For example. an operator standing on platform 12 will grasp one of the handles 76 while operating the truck controls. After the platform has been raised to the desired elevation, the operator may step out onto the pallet 22 and grasp the guard rail. With one hand on the guard rail, he may then reach out with the other free hand to gain access to adjacent shelves, racks, etc, Thus, the operator will be provided with a measure of security not heretofore available with conventional apparatus. When the guard rail assembly is no longer needed, it may be detached from the pallet by simply lowering handle 68 to retract the serrated pressure pad 50, and thereafter withdrawing base section 28 from its position straddling center stringer 24b.

We claim:

1. For use with a conventional load supporting pallet of the type having upper and lower load bearing surfaces separated by spaced intermediate bracing members, a removable guard rail assembly comprising: a base section including a pair of leg members adapted to straddle one of the pallet bracing members when said base section is inserted between the upper and lower bearing surfaces of the pallet; clamping means for removably securing said base section to said pallet; uprights carried by said base section, the said uprights extending upwardly from one side of said pallet when said base section is secured thereto; and a guard rail assembly supported by said uprights, said guard rail assembly being spaced vertically from and extending in parallel relationship to the said one side of the pallet.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 further characterized by said clamping means including a serrated pressure pad on one of the leg members of said base section, and actuating means connected to said pad, said actuating means being operative to move said pad toward the other leg member of said base section, thus causing the pallet bracing member straddled by said leg members to be gripped between said pad and the said other leg member.

3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein said actuating means includes a control handle on said guard rail, said link means connecting said handle to said serrated pressure pad.

4. For use with a conventional load supporting pallet of the type having upper and lower load bearing surfaces separated by spaced intermediate bracing members, a removable guard rail assembly comprising: a base section adapted for insertion between the upper and lower load bearing surfaces of said pallet; uprights carried by said base section; a guard rail supported by said uprights, said guard rail being spaced vertically from and extending in parallel relationship to at least one side of the pallet when said base section is inserted between the aforesaid upper and lower load bearing surfaces of the pallet; and, clamping means carried by said base section for securing said guard rail assembly to the pallet.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,915,774 6/1933 Busch 5-331 2,828,040 3/1958 Fitton et a1. 10855 XR 2,904,799 10/1959 Berlin 331 2,991,487 7/1961 Beckwell 533l 3,080,577 3/1963 Atkinson 5-331 3,277,848 10/1966 Runge et a1. l0855 3,290,701 12/1966 Luff 5-331 3,402,409 9/1968 Kain 5-33l BOBBY R. GAY, Primary Examiner G. O. FINCH, Assistant Examiner 

